How To Move Up The FOOD Chain. (Eating Healthier)

Eating healthy is different for everyone.  There are no foods that are for sure "healthy" because one person can say that meat is healthy another can say it is the worst thing in the world for you.

This being said you can work towards what foods you consider healthy.

My Story.

About 5 years back I was eating McDonalds, crackers and Jif peanut butter, and Ramen almost every single day.  Sure there might have been some healthy food thrown in the mix but for the most part all I remember eating was pure junk.  If you would have told me 5 years ago "just eat some spinach and stop eating the McDonalds" I probably would've laughed in your face.  It wasn't going to resonate with me to do a dramatic shift in what I was eating in a split second.  In fact now, I do eat healthier than I could've imagined 5 years ago, but I still have a ways to go, (finding out what foods work with me and which one's don't) while implementing more greens and veggies.

Maybe you feel just like I did 5 years ago.  Maybe you are just looking into health, whether it be to lose weight, gain muscle, or maybe you are in great shape but still eat a ton of junk food you know isn't good for you.  Whatever it is this blog will help you!

What does it mean to move up the food chain?

To move up the food chain you must start to make a shift in the foods you are eating.  Lets say you are where I was 5 years ago, you are starting to head down a path that will lead to obesity.  You have been eating this way all of your life and it is starting to catch up with you.

What can you do about it?  Instead of looking at the healthiest foods you can eat, I want you to think of something that is healthier than what you are currently eating.  If your daily diet consists of Cheetos, moving up the food chain might be eating french fries or sweet potato fries.  At this point you may be saying "but don't I need to cut all the crap out of my diet?"

The answer is yes, but it is going to take time.  You most likely won't be able to go into the gym if you have never lifted weights before and start to curl a 50 pound dumbbell.  So we start with something that is still a challenge, we replace a bad habit with a better one.

There is no need to compare what you are eating to what someone else is eating, your first step is to start to cut out the things that are bad and replace them with foods that are a step better.

I remember when I was losing fat about 3-4 years ago eating things I would never eat today, but it worked for me back then.  Meat, even if it was cured in sugar was better for me than some McDonalds.

Closing thoughts.

What are some foods you can eat that are slightly healthier than the foods you are eating right now on a day to day basis?

Don't try to get in shape in a week.  That is the purpose of this blog post, it is going to take longer than you expect, but it also won't be a super long time as long as you continue to replace the bad foods with better foods and make eating these better foods a daily habit.

How To Use Your Tax Refund Wisely.

Mindset

You probably already have or are still waiting to receive your tax refund.  What are your plans with the money you get back?  Are you going to save it or spend it?

Most of the time people are going to spend it on a TV or something that will depreciate.  I don't want that for you, the fact that you are reading this means you think different, you want more out of your tax refund.  However it is going to require some work on your part.

This is in no way easier than going and blowing you refund on something right now.  What can happen if you do what I am going to share with you today is that you may have the chance to multiply your tax refund!  Like I said, it will take work and it isn't easy, but will be worth it in the end.

The Process 

When you receive your tax refund instead of looking at what you can spend money on look at what you can invest in.  Start to look at how you can use that money for leverage in your life instead of "extra money" that will soon be spent on some junk you don't even need.

Although I cannot tell you what is right for you to invest the money in I can give you some pointers, but you are the only one who knows the right way to leverage your money.  The things I would consider are investing in yourself (books, audiobooks, courses etc.) and flipping items (retail arbitrage, garage sales etc).

For example, I decided to invest some more money (about $100) into retail arbitrage through Amazon FBA, this allowed me to put the rest of the money in the bank and let that $100 (hopefully) work for me over the next couple weeks.  If it does end up making a profit that will leave me with $20-40 extra, which will be re-invested back into more items to flip, and the process will continue.  

Imagine if you did this yourself.  Sure you wouldn't be able to buy a new TV or computer right away, which is a bummer, but after a while you will have more money to buy something even better as long as everything works out (nothing is guaranteed) but worse case you are going to be out a couple hundred dollars and gain the experience of trying something new.

Maybe you would rather invest in yourself instead.  The benefits of this are that you have something that will always be there to help and guide you.  However, I would only recommend investing in yourself if you are going to take action on it.  From firsthand experience I have spent an insane amount of money on books in 2015 but I read so many of them without taking too much action which  really just made reading those books a waste of time.

Once again, for investing in yourself don't spend all of your money on it, focus on one or two books or programs that are going to benefit your life.  This way it is easier for you to focus on one thing instead of a bunch of books or programs to the point where you rush through them and don't even learn anything.

Some books/audiobooks I would recommend are Awaken The Giant Within, The 10x Rule, The Millionaire Fastlane, The Power of Now, and The One Thing. (Links to all of these books below.)



 

Closing thoughts

Is investing your tax return something that sounds worth while to you? If so leave a comment below on how you will invest your tax return to give yourself and your loved ones a better life!

Thank you so much for reading, as always,
Make the best of today,

Brian

My First Cheat Day In 3 Weeks (My Experience & How It Can Help You).

As you may or may not know in early March (I believe March 10)  I decided I wasn't going to take another cheat day until April 1.  Now leading up to April first was actually pretty hard.  It only got easier the last 5 days before April.  As I got used to eating junk food once per week my mind also adapted and wondered why I wasn't eating the pizza and what not every week.  It was really hard and I did eat some ice cream throughout the past 3 weeks, but it is ice cream with ingredients I consider pretty good (it kept me sane as well during this period).

As I write this it is April 1 and I can tell you my body has changed to like the taste of healthier food more again.  So far I have eaten about 4000 calories today and it is 8:00 pm.  I may eat one more thing today but that is only if I get hungry before bed, which I doubt but it is possible.  

How can this help you?

Maybe you are where I was last month or you are where I was 5 years ago.  Either way you have the ability to change a habit of always eating junk food.  

Some ways junk food can affect you are:

 - Low energy

 - Sugar crash (having energy for about 30 minutes then losing it all and being tired for hours after)

 - Unclear thinking

 - Slow moving

 - Fat gain

Obviously these are just a few ways junk food can affect you and are the most common in my life when I eat junk.  When you start to eat healthier (leafy greens, high quality protein, and so on) you will notice that you slowly start feeling the effects of junk food less and less and will actually notice your body starts to feel and look better.  

After taking a break from junk food for so long I can dramatically tell the difference in how I feel when I eat it compared to when I was eating it once per week.  Even as I write this I am having trouble focussing  on the writing and I believe it all has to do with what I ate today.  

So enough about me, how can eating junk food less often help make your life better?

First off you will start to have higher energy in your life and a better ability to focus.  (an easy way to start eating healthier is by incorporating smoothies into your diet) they help feed your sweet tooth, but in a healthy way since you are getting fruit and vegetables, (as well as protein powder if you want to add it).  If you have a smoothie filled with bright tropical fruit in the morning you will most likely also notice a better mood throughout the day.  

Try this smoothie every morning:

 - coconut or almond milk

 - frozen pineapple chunks

 - ripe banana 

 - frozen mango chunks

 - coconut oil

 - spinach or kale

I used to make this smoothie every morning.  It was great for a good mood in the cloudy, cold winter and is also what I did every morning while I was losing weight.  Give it a try and tell me how you feel after one week!

Closing thoughts.

If you are someone who is taking cheat days frequently like I was, set a challenge for yourself where you don't take a cheat day for 3 times longer than usual.  Record how you feel throughout this process.  Share in the comment the good and bad you notice from putting off your cheat day, and how you feel after you eat the cheat food.

Thank you so much for reading, as always,
Make the best of today,

Brian

My Second Small Item Haul (From Target)

Yesterday I decided I was going to go out and try to find some more items to sell on Amazon since my recent small success.  My original plan was to go and check out Marshalls again but I decided out of the blue to go to target for whatever reason.

I have been to Target two times before this with no luck.  I literally found nothing that would make a profit, and if it was something good, it looked like someone else already swiped it all.  My plan was only to spend about an hour in Target and I did just that.

I ended up spending more (close to double) than I did at Marshalls for a little bit more profit, but I did save more time.

My total spent was about $108 but I also bought some Quest protein cookies, and a case of water.  I think I ended up getting lucky since I only scanned a few items in the store.  I ended up finding 2 different things.  One being some earbuds, and the other being a little surprise jewel.  The earbuds should end up selling extremely fast since the selling rank is between 400-500 and the jewel's should sell within a week or 2.  I bought about 8 jewel packs and 4 earbuds.

Sadly it looked like someone ended up beating me to most of the earbuds but I was lucky to find the ones that were left.

All I have to do now is package them off and ship them to Amazon over the next day or two and I will make an update blog after this sharing if I had success or not.

Speaking of success, I ended up selling the cassette, cabinet cleaner, and fitbit on the same day making somewhere between $20-30.  I ended up returning the Iron Man figure and pestle and mortar because Amazon wanted me to ship them separately and it wasn't going to be worth it for me.

Closing thoughts.

I hope this has been of inspiration to you.  Finding items for retail arbitrage can be challenging, especially if you don't have much time, but it can be a great way to earn a couple bucks here and there if you end up finding a couple good items.

Thank you so much for reading, as always,
Make the best of today,

Brian

The Power of Empowering Vs. Diempowering Questions.

I am currently re-reading Awaken The Giant Within by Tony Robbins and today I read something in the book that really spoke to me.  This is a problem everyone has and most of us don't even realize we are doing it until we consciously think about it.  We have the power to change our outlook on any situation just based on the questions we ask ourselves during certain situations.

The problem is most of us (me included) can get stuck in a loop of asking ourselves negative questions or questions that aren't really too meaningful.  The funny thing about why I am even writing this blog right now is that I switched my focus and asked myself a great question.  I asked myself "what is something I learned today that I want to share with the world to help spread this message to you?"

I could have sat here and kept saying "I wish I could come up with a blog post that was good to share with the world!"  Which is something I do pretty often if my mind is blank and I don't feel like I have anything to share.  It gets pretty frustrating, but as you can see here, just by changing the question I asked myself, I am here sharing this blog with you right now!

Some problem solving questions from the book that Tony says to ask yourself are:

 - What is great about this problem?
 - What is not perfect yet?
 - What am I willing to do to make it the way I want it?
 - What am I will to no longer do in order to make it the way I want it?
 - How can I enjoy the process while I do what is necessary to make it the way I want it?

These are just some broad examples of questions you could ask yourself about a tough situation you are in right now.  Obviously you can make questions of your own that will empower you and make you think of actual solutions for the situation you are in.

Using my life as an example for how you can use one of these questions.  Being a hard gainer I can complain and ask questions like "why is it so hard for me to gain muscle fast?" or "why can so and so put on muscle faster than I can?" These question won't get me anywhere except for where I don't want to go.

On the other hand if I ask myself "what is great about being a hard gainer?"  my mindset shifts and I actually become inspired.  Even as I write this I feel my mind saying things that are actually blessings about being a hard gainer.  There are many other hard gainers out there who are having the same trouble I am having.  Being a hard gainer is a blessing because as I gain muscle I can share what is working as well as what isn't to make the path easier for other hard gainers.

Closing Thoughts

Using empowering questions most likely isn't easy for most of us.  Most likely you are not where you want to be, and part of it is because of the language you use on a daily.  Most of us don't even realize the questions we ask ourselves are kind of ridiculous and not bringing us to our full potential.  The second we decide to ask ourselves empowering questions our life starts to change more and more each day.

What are some empowering questions you are going to ask yourself from now on?

If you gained value from this blog be sure to share it with a friend that would also gain tremendous value.



Thank you so much for reading, as always,
Make the best of today,

Brian

Retail Arbitrage Side Hustle.

If you have read my side hustle blog post you know that over winter I made a little under $500 shoveling snow.  Although an actually pretty fulfilling side hustle, it is one I cannot do until next winter unless it snows a good amount before then.  I leaned a lot of lesson and hard work lessons from doing it but now that shoveling snow probably won't work to earn money till next year, I will have to do something different.

I have decided to go into retail arbitrage.  My current plan is to use Amazon FBA for retail arbitrage.  The reason I am using FBA is that the process is pretty straight forward to get started and that I don't have to deal with returns since Amazon does all that.  Also learning is very easy since there are tons of videos on youtube teaching ways to profit from retail arbitrage through FBA

I have already started doing this, however haven't had much luck with it yet.  It seems to be the biggest problem is finding the products at stores to flip for some cash.  With the FBA fees and not being eligible to sell some items on Amazon it can be a real pain.  Sometimes you will find a product with a great rank that would have a good profit margin but that you aren't eligible to sell on Amazon for whatever reason.

The next couple of months are going to be more of a learning process of whether or not this will work for me or not.

I also want to do some videos of when I go shopping at stores and the products I find, or even if I have days I go and I find nothing.  I want to be 100% open about my experience with retail arbitrage. Hopefully this will be motivation for you to go out and try this for yourself, and even make it a big stream of income for yourself.

Closing thoughts

As I stated above this is going to be a test to see if this is a form of income that I like or completely despise.  From my little experience so far retail arbitrage seems like a pretty hard way to make money through Amazon.  However I am not too experienced with it, and many others have had massive success with retail arbitrage through FBA.  I believe any side hustle is what you make of it, so if you want to spend a few hours per day in a store scanning items, I am sure you will have massive success.  It is time consuming but if you find a good selling item with a good profit margin you will make money.  I wish the best of luck to you if you are going to try out retail arbitrage.  I am also looking forward to sharing my journey and shopping hauls from stores with you so stay tuned for that.

Thank you so much for reading, as always,
Make the best of today,

Brian

A New Workout Experiment for Hard Gainers. (Split Workout)

If you are new to the Ganifit blog, you may be just clicking on this if you are a hard gainer in the gym and would like to build muscle.  If you already have been following the blog, or know me you know I have been experimenting over the past few months with gaining muscle as fast as possible as a hard gainer.  And let me tell you, this is one tough thing to do.

So the other day I came across a comment on a video where I went in depth on my bulking workouts.  The viewer gave me a suggestion to try a upper/lower body split.  This is something that I have heard of but have never thought to try.  But since a viewer suggested the split I am going to give it a shot.  

I know that there is a ton I can learn and experiment with, and you should have the same mindset even if you are new or advanced.  I really like where I am headed right now with my workout routine so moving away from is it kind of hard, but I am going to trust the process of this split routine for building mass.  

Click here to view the mass building split routine to try it for yourself.

The program is 8 weeks long and I am hoping to gain at least 2 pounds of muscle over the next 8 weeks while following the program.

If you are a hard gainer let us work together to grow as much muscle as possible over the next few weeks.  I know that you can often feel discouraged as a hard gainer when you aren't seeing growth as fast as you would like, but there is something I learned and this mindset will keep you motivated while starting out with barely any muscle.

The mindset you should have while starting out is being honest with where you are right now and where you would like to be.  There is nothing wrong with starting even if you are skinny right now you must not let that stop you.  Picture where you will be in 5 years if you start today.  

Another thing skinny guys as well as people who are overweight will think is that "everyone is going to judge me when I am working out".  This is also total BS.  Everyone who is at the gym is there to work out and get to where they want to be, they could care less if you are the skinniest guy in the gym and can only do 5 pound curls.  In fact what will likely happen is people will encourage you to keep going because they want to see you win.

Closing thoughts.

If you are a beginner I really hope you focus on the mindset portion of this blog, as it is a huge factor in staying consistent in the gym and with you workouts.  The rest will fall in to place but it will take time, nothing great will happen overnight.  You body isn't a lottery and shouldn't be treated as one.

Thank you so much for reading, as always,
Make the best of today,
Brian